Memorial Day Weekend Craziness!

The Memorial Day Weekend marks the start of my summer season in Phippsburg. The town blooms overnight with thousands of visitors coming to Popham Beach, Fort Popham, Fort Baldwin, Sebasco Harbor Resort, Hermit Island Campground, Meadowbrook Campground, Head Beach etc. Well this Memorial Day weekend was no different. A matter a fact it was one of the busiest I have ever experienced. I will give you a little wrap up.

1. I stopped a car for an expired registration on Rt. 209. I approached the driver and asked him for his license and registration. He had his hands on the steering wheel and was visibly shaking. I stuck my head in closer to the open window and could smell the odor of residual alcohol emanating from the interior. Well I discovered the 17 year old driver and his 17 year old passengers had a 30 pack of Coors Beer and a Bottle of Captain Morgan Rum they were going to partake of, I think not busted!

2. I stopped a car full of kids that were tailgating some older lady who travelling the speed limit 45 mph. I stepped out of my cruiser to walk up and speak to the driver. The driver tossed a burning cigarette out the window onto the pavement. Well that's not the way to start a good relationship with a Police Officer. I approached the driver and immediately had him exit the vehicle and put out and pick up the cigarette. I next asked him for his license. He responded that he had lost his wallet and did not have it with him. I ascertained his name and date of birth and found out he was only 16. He had gotten his license a little over a month ago. Well that means he cant be smoking, or transporting his car full of friends.

3. I went to stop a car about 1:00 a.m on Saturday night- Sunday Morning. The car was travelling 45 mph in a 35 mph zone and had a defective loud exhaust. I was familiar with the car as I had stopped it about a month ago and seized a bag of marijuana from the driver/owner. I had also investigated the same person for his involvement in a domestic assault about two months ago. Well he thought he was the better driver and could ditch me. He tried to duck into a driveway that was not his and and cut his lights out. The problem was I know where he lives and some one had tried that same routine their before. The Rocket scientist forgot to take his foot off the brake lights as to. Well he was 20 years old and had been drinking, but not drunk. However as a minor you cant have a drop of alcohol in your system. So he scored his trifecta!

4. A an older 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier drove by me with about 7 people sitting in the 4-5 passenger seat car. The passengers in the back were all kids from about 13-5 years old. They were sitting on each others laps. They immediately tried to pretend they had seat belts on that would not fit over them. Well Mom you can tell your story to the judge. That is just plain stupid in my book.

I had a few others including a crazy assault case. It was a very busy weekend now I am buried in paperwork. Summer has arrived in Phippsburg see you kids next fall.

Flowering Azalea at Skroski's

I had to snap a photo of this beautiful flowering Azalea in the front our yard. I planted it about four years ago when we were moving in our new home. This photo is about two weeks old and its pretty much gone by now. I cat wait for next years bloom!

Enjoy, John

Unknown Bird at Fiddlers Reach Boat Landing

I was out for my run the other morning and as I was comming up the hill at the boat landing and I mean quite the hill, I saw this bird sitting in tree. It caught my attention as it did not look familiar to me. I am in the process of trying to identify it. The bird was larger than a Robin and had a greyish under belly. I am wondering if it was a Northern Mocking Bird. I will update you once I figure it out. I need a better camera to zoom in on all the wild life I come across. I had a great run even after stopping to snap a couple of photo's.

"Max" it is Watch out Autumn!

Well we broke down and picked up the kitten last week. He is huge for his age of only 13-14 weeks old. We settled on "MAX" short for Maximilian. This kitten is full of energy and has really added some excitement to our home. I think he is getting the bulk of its energy from eating Autumn's food. Last night Max had his head buried in poor Autumns dish and she went over for a bite to eat. Well Max did not like that and held his ground. Max hissed at Autumn and Autumn turned right around and left for the living room to get some peace and quiet.

Tae Kwon Do Class

Just a few recent shots of my Tae Kwon Do class at I took last month at a Wednesday after school class. This group of kids are a great bunch. I love working with them and seeing them mature and progress.

John

Caroline Sleeping

Last Night I was on couch watching the Celtics kick some "b" while Caroline was playing her Leapster Game. Her two sisters were sleeping over friends homes and Kadi was at work. I looked over at my little "blondie" and found her sound asleep. She was still holding the Leapster with the stylus in her fingers. I could not resist snapping a couple of pictures. She is such a sweetie! She will one day a be a Celtics fan too.

John

A Princess Party for Caroline

Last Evening, we had a party for Caroline's Birthday. She had fun with some of her cousins and friends. I attempted to make a Castle Cake and much to my dismay, it was almost falling over by the time Caroline blew out her candles! Guess I'm not a professional Cake Decorator after all! At any rate the kids had fun with Crown making, Bubble Blowing and Pinata Hitting.

Check out my Slide Show!

Caroline's Birthday!

Our little girl turned 4 today! We started the day with one minor mishap, I locked my keys in my trunk while scurrying to wrap Caroline's gifts that were hidden there! Thank Heavens I'm married to someone who knows how to break into cars, otherwise I don't know what I would have done! That was basically the only Birthday mishap, everthing else went fairly smoothly, besides a spill here and there, which actually is a daily occurance at our house. Caroline decided to dress in her Bathing suit for this special occasion. We celebrated with a quiet Family lunch with Caroline's favorite Ham and Cheese Subs. While walking home from a Neighborhood Barbeque this evening, I asked Caroline what her favorite part of her Birthday was, she exclaimed, "My Birthday Cake Mom!" Don't we just all love cake?!!!!

Uncommon Bird Sighting at Skroski's Feeder

I was washing the dishes this morning and put them down to look at my feeder as I thought I saw a flash of blue go by. When I see blue it means one, I am really depressed because summer is here and I will be working allot of weekends. Or it means a Blue Jay has arrived to ravage my feeders. At least the blue Jay's scare the heck out of those pesky red squirrels. Well this time the flash of blue I had seen wasn't either. There was this beautiful blue bird that had a little black and brown mixed into its feathers. I had never seen this bird before. I knew it wasn't an eastern blue bird. I watched it for a few minutes and snapped a few photo's of it. I flipped open my National Geographic field guide and narrowed it down to pretty much a Blue Gross Beak or a Indigo Bunting. Well a naturalist at Maine Audubon confirmed that it was a Indigo Bunting. A couple older birding friends of mine have never seen the bird before. One other birder has only seen two of them in the past 14 years. Well enjoy the photo it might be the last one you see of it in a while. It was a great find for an amateur like me!

Kitty Cat - For the Skroskis? We need your help!

We are looking at possibly getting the kitten you see above. It's a male short haired 12 week old grey and white cat. The kitten has already been neutered and has its shots. So tell us what do you think, should we break down and bring it home? The kids seemed to love it, when we brought them over to see it yesterday. We lost our cat Oreo almost two years ago. We had Oreo for 15 years and she was great. Oreo was real easy to name because she was all black and white. We need suggestions on names if we get this ball of fur. I also need ideas on how to protect my bird feeding stations from this predator!

Madeline's Baptism!

Yesterday Madeline was Baptized! It was a wondeful day. She came out of the Baptismal Font exclaiming, "That was Awesome"! She was Baptized on the same day as her friend Brittany so that made it extra special! We were blessed to have lots of friends and family there. We had a fun get together at the house afterwards. We're proud of you Madeline!

A Special Day

Fiesta Fun!

Last night we had a Ward Fiesta at church! I really love my calling as Ward Activities leader and this was a great Activity to plan. Everyone made a Potluck Main dish and the food turned out really good. The kids had fun with the Pinatas and thankfully noone was hurt with the swinging of the Pinata stick (I'm always a little on edge during this party game)! All in All it was a fun night!

Check out my Slide Show!

Battle of The Books

Tonight Christine had a Battle of the Books Competition at School. The kids are given a list of 30 books at the beginning of the year and need to read at least 10 of them before the Competition. About 5 Schools participate. The kids break up into teams and then have to answer questions regarding the books. Christine's team did really well and it was fun to see her so excited about reading. The picture of 4 is of her team and the larger group is all the kids that participated from Christine's school.

Dress Up!

It was around 7:30 p.m and I rounded the corner from our upstairs hallway into our little bathroom. Caroline who was staring in the mirror, turned to face me with her cute smile. Well, she had pasted black eye mascara all around her mouth especially her upper lip. She was dressed in her mothers clothing along with Madeline. At first I was angry, but I did not lash out. Thoughts ran through my mind very quickly. Thought number one was - when Kadi sees the mess it will be "why weren't you watching her". Thought two was - Kadi is not home so I will have to clean this whole mess up. Thought three - she is just a kid having fun with her sister. I had a valid defense to the typical "you weren't watching the kids close enough". You see being the great husband and father that I would like to think I am, I was taking the clothes off my recently installed clothes line. Well anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures. I am still working on being a great dad - A work in progress, stay tuned!

Performing at The Maine State House!

Last month our Elementary School Band had the opportunity to go to the State House and perform. Christine started playing the Clarinet in September and really enjoys it. She has much more Musical Talent then her Mom did when she attempted to play the Clarinet years ago, I was ALWAYS off key. The Band got to play under the Dome at the State House and then were able to open up for the House of Representatives with the National Anthem. It was a fun experience! Here are a couple pictures and a shaky video.

Topsham Ward - Change in the Air!

Last Sunday to the surprise of many people at our Church in Topsham the Stake Presidency was there in full force. They released our whole Bishopric, Bishop John Malcolm and his Counselors Rich Taylor and Jim Conners. They also released the Bishop's Executive Secretary Bruce Martson. President Quinn presided and announced that Jim Conners had been called as our new Bishop and Rodney Gagnon and Bradford Smith as his counselors. Bishop Conners new Executive Secretary is Rick Wong. The whole change thing was somewhat expected but still shocking. Bishop Malcolm had been our Bishop since October of 2000. To say that a few of us got a wee bit emotional is a understatement. We really loved our Bishop, he is such a great guy. Bishop Conners is a great man with an incredible family. I really look forward to working with him. I am one of the few remnants of the old Bishopric still remaining as the Finance/Membership Clerk. I will write a few follow-up posts on my thoughts on our former Bishopric and newly called Bishopric. They are all good men with exception of Rich Taylor! Just kidding, no I am not, yes I am! The Winthrop Ward has gained a great new High Counselor in Brother John Malcolm. You better watch out Robb, Meredith, Bryan, Jared, and Amy I have put him onto you!

That's commitment!

At the beginning of my Saturday Tae Kwon Do class I asked all of the students if any one was sick or injured which I customarily do for safety reasons. One boy announced that he had a cast on his left arm because he had broken it. This same boy had participated in our test on April, 19th even though he was not testing. I remember him telling me on that day that he had a sore arm because he had slept on it wrong the wrong way. Well the above photo is from the April, 19th test of that same boy doing a knife hand block, with his yet to be discovered fractured arm. This boy is so focused, respectful, and committed to his training. It turned out the week before the test he had fallen at home and hurt his arm. I am happy to report that he will be testing for his yellow belt in June. I am hoping his arm will be fully healed by then! I am amazed when I see kids who don't give up but give it all they got! There are great kids in this world and he is one of them!

Caroline's First Swim Lesson

Caroline started Swimming lessons at the YMCA today. She even dressed her Bear for the occasion. She was Brave and went in the Pool without me. She did really well and is looking forward to another lesson next week.